U2, United Center, Chicago, Illinois

Excluding a brief two song set on the mall for a pre-Obama inauguration celebration in early 2009, this would be my second time seeing U2, one of the greatest rock bands of their generation and certainly one of my favorites. My first proper U2 show at Fed Ex Field outside DC in September 2009 was one of the best concerts that I have ever seen. It was also the first concert of my regular entries on this blog. So I was obviously quite excited for this show. The evening would kick off a five night run for U2 at the United Center. From what I can tell, that meant that by the end of the run, they will have played the United Center seventeen times, more than any other artist.

The main stage was on one end of the floor. A second smaller stage was located at the opposite end of the floor with a runway connecting the two and bisecting the general admission audience. Just like when I saw U2 at Fed Ex Field, I was able to secure general admission tickets. Lindsey arrived in line for us at about 5:30 and I was only slightly behind. While entering the venue, we had to decide whether to be on the north or south side of the venue. Once we chose, we wouldn’t be able to cross to the other side. On the split second, unscientific advice of the ticket taker, we chose the north side because thus far it was less crowded. While we were far from the first people into the venue, we weren’t standing far from fans with numbers on their hands, meaning they had camped out at least all day. When we walked in, fans were already up around both stages and along the entire runway in the middle. We found a spot perhaps only seven or eight people back from the front and four to five from the runway. Noticing that it was the only stage with a full drum kit for Larry Mullen Jr., I assumed it was where the band would spend most of their time and would be the best spot. With Bono front and center and Larry Mullen Jr. in the back, guitarist The Edge generally stands stage right and bassist Adam Clayton stage left. Our north side choice put us in front of Adam Clayton. While I would have preferred to see The Edge up close, the advantage of being on the side of Adam Clayton is that he moves around more. His lack of pedals and a cord allow him to get closer to the audience throughout the show.

While waiting for the show to start, we made friends with the people around us including a pair of ladies that had seen U2 multiple times every tour since The Joshua Tree (1987), a married couple who had also seen them many times, and a father and his sixteen year old son. The father had first seen U2 in Austin before I was born; the pair had flown up from Texas for him to bring is son to his first concert.

There was no opener. Following an introductory song, “People Have the Power” by Patti Smith, U2 took the stage around 8:15pm from the rear, all coming down the center aisle. I noticed that both Adam and Larry, while still in good shape, looked considerable older than when I saw them last. The Edge despite losing his hair years ago, which he covers with his trademark skull cap, doesn’t seem to age at all. Bono, despite being held together by surgical pins following a horrific bicycle crash, also seemed pretty limber and no worse for wear.

After opening with a recent song, “The Miracle of Joey Ramone,” they went way back to an early song, “The Electric Co.” from Boy (1980). A large lightbulb descended from the rafters and Bono used the prop as a swing throughout the song which included snippets of well-known songs like "Send in the Clowns" and "I Can See for Miles." Throughout the evening, their songs would often include such snippets and segues from their own and cover songs. Speakers were situated directly above our heads, pointing down at us. It sounded fantastic.

Bono, The Edge, and Adam all began the show wearing leather jackets which were all eventually stripped down to t-shirts. Adam wore a t-shirt advertising the date “May 12, 2001.” Following the show, I discovered that U2 had played their first show at the United Center on that day, but I couldn’t find that the date or that concert otherwise held any other particular significance to be worth having a t-shirt made. He later changed into a Sex Pistols tee. Throughout the show, Bono gave shout outs to famous people in the building including Susan Buffett (daughter of Warren), Chris Rock, and Mick Jagger as well as longtime manager former Paul McGuiness.

U2's current tour, the iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE, isn't a normal rock show. It's autobiographical rock theatre exploring the inner workings of their minds and youth, back when little Bono was called Paul Hewson. The initial part of the set featured a fairly stripped down stage, except for that swinging light bulb. While Bono was introducing “Iris (Hold Me Close),” a song dedicated to Bono’s late mother who died when he was young, an elaborate center stage gangway and LCD screen descended from the rafters. The screen would either sit on or hover atop the entire runway. It projected lights, images of the band and Bono’s mother on her wedding day, and animations of the streets of Dublin and of a teenage Bono writing songs. It was hard to get the whole thing in a photo from where I was standing, especially also trying to sneak a band member into frame. The screen was incorporated into most of the rest of the songs in the performance.

Throughout the show, the band members took turns strutting down the center aisle; Bono more than the others. There was also a ladder on either end of the contraption that the band could use to climb up into the screen. From there, they could perform from inside the screen. At one point, all four were instead the screen, meaning that all eyes were on the screen instead of split between the screen and the band. Sometimes the screen would be transparent, and you could see the band on the gangway in what looked like a kind of cage.

The show included a stripped down version of “Sunday Bloody Sunday” with Larry on just a single snare. As it’s one of my favorite U2 songs, I have to admit it was just a bit disappointing in a way because a critical component of the song, when Larry’s drums and The Edge’s guitar crescendo, didn’t happen. However, the end of the song was the loudest moment of the show, not with music but an explosion of sound to simulate a bomb. As with most performances of the song, there was a specific call to action. The screen listed the names of victims of a long unsolved bombing in Dublin while Bono called for justice on their behalf.

The performance included an intermission at about the half way mark. The band left the stage while the Johnny Cash song “The Wanderer” played over the speakers. The song was accompanied by an animation of a Cash-like face singing.

Each of the band members spent a bit of time throughout the show at the smaller stage. Again, Bono more than the others. During the second half of the show the entire band, even Larry on a smaller drum kit, played a pair of acoustic songs at that stage, “Ordinary Love” and “Every Breaking Wave.” During this portion, they also invited a young fan, Joy, on stage to film the band. Her footage was projected on the screen and what appeared to be on the interwebs, with fans from around the world able to post comments on top of the feed. Following this stint, they returned to the main stage to perform major classics like “Bullet the Blue Sky,” “Pride (In the Name of Love),” “Beautiful Day,” and “With or Without You” to close the main set.

U2 returned to the stage after a brief encore break launching into “In the City of Blinding Lights.” During the song, additional illuminated bars lit up the stage. They then closed the show with another pair of staples songs, “Where the Streets Have No Name” and “I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.” Wrapping up on his drum kit, Larry was the last one to make the walk down the runway to the exit at the second stage. I was not at all ready for the show to be over.

Though the experience couldn’t compare to the first time that I saw U2, overall, the show was incredible. I was actually a bit surprised by just how blown away I was by the experience of seeing them a second time. Despite it being a more personal and experimental performance, at its core the iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Tour is still a rocking U2 concert, not a pretentious rock opera.

It was also a particularly visually engaging show which was crafted for the fans in the nosebleed seats as more than those of us on the floor. As much as I love GA sections, the full experience of the show might be best served from seats that allow the full visual experience. However, good seats in the lower bowl were significantly more expensive that the floor, so not a good value proposition for me for a fan like me that doesn’t want to sit anyway.

Setlist:
The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)
The Electric Co. [with "Send in the Clowns"/"I Can See for Miles" snippets]
Vertigo [with "It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)" snippet]
I Will Follow
Iris (Hold Me Close)
Cedarwood Road
Song for Someone
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Raised by Wolves
Until the End of the World
Intermission [The Wanderer by Johnny Cash]
Invisible
Even Better Than the Real Thing
Mysterious Ways
Elevation
Ordinary Love
Every Breaking Wave
Bullet the Blue Sky
Pride (In the Name of Love) [with "The Hands That Built America" segue]
Beautiful Day
With or Without You
Encore:
City of Blinding Lights
Where the Streets Have No Name [with Mother and Child Reunion Intro [Paul Simon Cover]]
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For [People Have the Power" snippet]